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The parents of a teenager wrongly accused of being a hacking kingpin who brought Microsoft and Sony to their knees say they are ready to return to their “boring and run-of-the-mill” lives.
Robert and Carol Cameron and their 16-year-old son Jordan had their lives turned upside down when he was implicated as the supposed mastermind behind the attacks on Xbox and PlayStation networks which left gamers unable to play their consoles online.
Ironically, he does not even own an Xbox.
The hackers, who call themselves Lizard Squad, are thought to have cost the companies millions of pounds in lost transactions and damages, leading the FBI to investigate.
Jordan, a Gravesend Grammar School pupil, was incorrectly outed as the group’s leader after hackers published his personal details online.
Along with his name, his mobile number, Facebook profile and his parents’ names were also leaked, which led to violent threats to him and his family.
“I tell people this story and they can’t quite believe what I’m saying. If someone told me, I’m not sure I’d believe them. We are this normal, boring, run-of-the-mill family. How did this happen to us?" - Mrs Cameron
Amazingly, the reason why he was exonerated by investigators so quickly was because he was already known to the FBI in another case of mistaken identity, just months previously.
In August, Jordan was wrongly linked to a group of British hackers threatening bombings and shootings at American high schools.
They included another campaign of terror at Sandy Hook Elementary, where 26 adults and children were massacred by gunman Adam Lanza in December 2012.
The culprits face arrest and extradition to America, where it is possible they could spend 15 years behind bars.
On that occasion, cyber crime officers attended the Cameron family home as part of the investigation.
Although they quickly realised he was a victim of the crime rather than a criminal, they were there for five hours, taking witness statements from Jordan and his parents and took his computer hard drive away for forensic examination to prove his innocence to the FBI.
With the latest attack, the family contacted the police on Christmas Day after receiving dozens of malicious communications, including abusive language and threats of violence because of Jordan’s perceived involvement.
One hacker, who claimed to be a Lizard Squad member, told the Messenger Jordan’s identity was used to deflect attention from themselves, saying he had been used as “prey”.
Some wrongly believe Jordan to be a highly dangerous hacker capable of spreading fear and uncertainty at the world’s biggest companies.
In reality, he is a bright, confident teenager who hopes to study maths and physics after his GCSEs this summer.
“Jordan is very good on a computer but he wouldn’t have the first clue about how to hack into anything. Luckily he’s a very intelligent, level-headed teenager. It did affect his school work, but he didn’t outwardly show it was affecting him" - Mrs Cameron
He is an Explorer Scout who studies taekwondo and achieved his Duke of Edinburgh award.
His parents said they may never know how their son has become a victim of mistaken identity and felt they needed to speak out to highlight Jordan’s innocence.
Mrs Cameron said: “I tell people this story and they can’t quite believe what I’m saying. If someone told me, I’m not sure I’d believe them.
“We are this normal, boring, run-of-the-mill family. How did this happen to us?
“Jordan is very good on a computer but he wouldn’t have the first clue about how to hack into anything. Luckily he’s a very intelligent, level-headed teenager. It did affect his school work, but he didn’t outwardly show it was affecting him.
“I wasn’t sleeping too well. It’s not nice to have those things written about your child. He’s in an important school year and he doesn’t need this. I was worried it could affect him later on in life.
“You do start playing detective, looking through Twitter, but I’m not sure we will ever know for sure what’s happened. Now he’s just irritated by it. We all want it to stop.”
Mr Cameron said: “It was totally out of the blue. On Christmas Day, we started getting messages saying ‘did you know your son was responsible for bringing down Xbox?’
“There is more chance of winning the lottery than having your son wanted by the FBI – I want to know where my winnings are.”
A spokesman for the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit and Counter Terrorism Unit said: “SEROCU does not confirm the details of people who have been spoken to as part of any investigation and cannot comment on individuals.”